1. Field of the Invention
The present invention pertains to the art of refrigerators and, more particularly, a side-by-side refrigerator including laterally spaced compartment doors which seal against a bowed mullion.
2. Discussion of the Prior Art
In a conventional side-by-side refrigerator, freezer and fresh food compartment doors align along a vertically extending divider wall or mullion, with the mullion extending in a single plane essentially from the top to the bottom of the refrigerator. Although this style of refrigerator has certain advantages over either a top-mount or a bottom-mount refrigerator wherein the freezer compartment is arranged vertically above or below the fresh food compartment respectively, certain disadvantages are also presented. For instance, since the opening provided in a household kitchen for side-by-side, top-mount and bottom-mount style refrigerators is essentially standard, top-mount and bottom-mount refrigerators typically have wider shelves in each of the fresh food and freezer compartments as compared to the corresponding shelves in a side-by-side refrigerator.
For this reason, it is often difficult, if not impossible, to accommodate rather wide food items, such as trays, cake pans, platters, turkeys and the like, on a given shelf in the fresh food compartment of a side-by-side refrigerator, while the same item(s) could be readily placed on a corresponding shelf in a top-mount or bottom-mount refrigerator. The same is true with respect to the width of different freezer shelves. For example, it is not always possible to store frozen pizza and other large food items widthwise in a side-by-side refrigerator freezer compartment, while such items can be easily arranged widthwise in a freezer compartment of a top-mount or bottom-mount style refrigerator. To compensate for this disadvantage, it is not uncommon for owners of side-by-side refrigerators to purchase a second refrigerator for additional food storage space.
Alternatively, a side-by-side refrigerator can be constructed wherein each of the fresh food and freezer compartments has varying widths as demonstrated in U.S. Pat. No. 6,019,447. With this advantageous construction, a consumer can place more items in an advantageously positioned, larger width section of a selected compartment of the refrigerator, while other items can be placed on shelves located in a narrower width section. In order to seal each of the varying width compartments, the refrigerator illustrated in the '447 patent includes fresh food and freezer compartment doors having varying widths. That is, each of the fresh food and freezer compartment doors includes an inner lateral portion defined by offset vertical sections interconnected by a lateral section.
Based on the weight of a side-by-side refrigerator door itself and the number of food items which can be stored on inner storage shelves or bins of the door, it is known to structurally reinforce a refrigerator door in order to control bowing of the door. Unless adequately supported, refrigerator doors may be limited in the amount or weight of items that can be stored in bins or shelves on the door. Too much weight could cause the seal about the door to unseat, allowing cool air to escape from the refrigerator. A particular problem exists with the type of refrigerators discussed above that have offset sections. That is, the laterally offset sections define a zone of interruption that significantly reduces the strength of the overall door. This zone of interruption can experience a significant amount of thermal bow which can cause a breach of a door seal at this zone. In fact, a change in door gap between a top of the mullion and the zone of interruption can reach 0.25 inches (approximately 0.6 cm). Certainly, not compensating for this type of bowing can lead to significant efficiency losses.
Based on the above, there exists a need in the art to establish a consistent and energy efficient door seal arrangement in connection with a side-by-side refrigerator. In particular, there exists a need in the art for a mullion assembly that provides for proper sealing between a door of an offset side-by-side refrigerator and a mullion assembly of the refrigerator.